Corn Heads for Biggest Weekly Gain in Seven Months on Import Speculation

Corn rose in Chicago, heading for the biggest weekly gain in more than seven months, on speculation declines in the past two weeks may have increased demand from importers. Wheat and soybeans climbed.

Export sales of corn from the U.S., the world’s largest producer and shipper, more than doubled to 1.15 million metric tons in the week to May 12 from the previous week, the Department of Agriculture said yesterday. Wet weather that’s delaying corn seeding in the U.S. also may be boosting prices.

“It was the strongest weekly sales result since late March and signals that significant pent-up demand was uncovered as corn prices slumped in early May,” Luke Mathews, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a report e-mailed today.

Corn for July delivery gained 8.25 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $7.565 a bushel by 11:15 a.m. London time on the Chicago Board of Trade. Prices are up 11 percent this week, on course for the biggest advance since the week ended Oct. 8. The grain slid 9.8 percent in the two weeks ended May 13 and more than doubled in the past year.

About 63 percent of U.S. corn was planted as of May 15, down from 87 percent a year earlier and a five-year average of 75 percent, the USDA said this week. The crop was 21 percent emerged from the ground, compared with 53 percent a year ago and 39 percent on average for the past five years, it said in a May 16 report.

Wheat Advances

Wheat for July delivery climbed 2.5 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $8.145 a bushel. The grain is up 12 percent this week, on course for the largest climb since the week ended Dec. 3, and surged 73 percent in the past year.

Prices jumped this week on concern worsening crop conditions in Europe, which accounts for about a fifth of global output, and the U.S. may slash world supply. Forecasters predicted May 18 the crop in France, the largest European Union wheat grower, will drop 12 percent on dry weather as second- ranking Germany’s harvest slides 7.2 percent.

As of May 15, U.S. winter wheat was in the worst condition since 1996, with 44 percent of fields rated poor or very poor by the USDA. The National Weather Service estimates rainfall in the past two months was less than half of normal in much of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Milling wheat for November delivery traded on NYSE Liffe in Paris fell 1.75 euros, or 0.7 percent, to 242.25 euros ($345.73) a ton.

Soybeans for July delivery increased 6.25 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $13.8575 a bushel in Chicago, taking the weekly gain to 4.2 percent. The oilseed climbed 47 percent in the past year, partly on rising demand from China, the world’s largest importer.

U.S. exporters sold 110,000 tons of soybeans to China for delivery in the 2011-12 season that starts Sept. 1, the USDA said yesterday. Before that transaction, export sales of soybeans advanced to 166,232 tons in the week to May 12 from 62,245 tons a week earlier, it said separately.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-20/corn-futures-head-for-biggest-weekly-gain-in-seven-months-on-import-demand.html